Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Head vs. Heart

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few days, who hasn’t heard and been excited by the Jon Lester no-hitter story? What an uplifting story. Who wasn’t proud of the kid? And here in the Pacific Northwest, the story has even more relevance, since Lester is from the area. I was especially proud for having the vision and foresight to pick up young Lester in my fantasy baseball league.What a genius, the next Theo they would say! Ok, would you believe the next Bill James.All right, the next Lou Gorman.And I am not too embarrassed to admit that I play fantasy baseball.It’s kind of like a comfortable old shoe. I’ve been doing it for so many years, it helps me to focus more on baseball and get to know more of the players.

What I am embarrassed to admit to, is that my General Manager genius was short-lived.In my league, the transaction deadline is the day before. So in over-thinking, I cut Lester the day of the game to make room for another pitcher who would start on Tuesday in my quest to maximize my total starts for the week.The theory was that I could flip the 2 pitchers, maybe throw in Joe Blanton in the middle and generate 3 extra starts.Enough to win strikeouts and wins for the week.Who can refute that logic? Even Mike Gimbel would go agree.Maybe the analogy to Gorman, was correct after all. Maybe, the Duque.So who was the stud, that I had to have, had to drop the Sox pitcher for?Dustin McGowan pitched a good game, and lost, but not a no-no, not even close. 6 1/3 innings, 2 earned runs, 4 BB, 4 K and a big L. Not 9 IP 0 H 0 ER 2 BB 9K and a W.Not even close. Now here’s where it will get ugly.Tomorrow when waivers clear on the hottest pitcher in baseball, what do you think the chances are that I will get him back?Exactly, can you say Dustin McGowan?

The popular adage is when it’s Head vs Heart, the smart thing to do is go with your head. Be rational, not emotional, they say.Well maybe that works in Vegas, but I'm changing the rule, When it’s Head versus Heart, the Heart Wins…and it’s more fun that way.

I couldn't agree more...heart dominates head. Why play a game (fantasy sports) and force yourself to root against your rooting interests, or at least feel bad for even thinking about it. I play into them...Varitek or Mauer??? Tek all day....ok...maybe not ;)

Tim, thanks for the advice. To close the loop on the story, Lester was picked up by the XXVIOLATORSXX. As a result, my team, Big Papi in the House (like the name?) picked up Doug Davis in his return from cancer. Maybe I should get Bartolo...what do you think?

By the way, in case you don't know, Tim is an author of a great Sox blog, Fire Brand of the American League, http://mvn.com/mlb-redsox/

Well, we weren't expecting Johnny Vander Meer, but today's game still was disappointing. And McGowan had a great game. So, they are both 1-1 for the week. In fact, when you look at the 2 starts combined, Lester and McGowan look pretty similar.